When I was in the Army, we were trained for all kinds of eventualities. Some were good, some not so good. One of the not-so-good ones was in case of capture. The goal was to train soldiers how to keep up their morale in difficult conditions so that they would be ready and able to escape if the conditions were right.

One of the biggest lessons I still own is, that during your resistance while captured, celebrate little victories. In these kinds of situations, any victory is worth celebrating. So, if you could lie to your captors and get away with it, or whether you could sneak in food or weapons, or just communicate with fellow prisoners, each one was a little victory. And you were to celebrate it.

Celebrating small victories is also a biblical pattern. One of the biggest small victories is when God opened up the Jordan river for the children of Israel. They all marched across the river, collected twelve large stones, and set up a monument to God’s deliverance. (Why is that miracle just a small victory you ask? Because the big battles were still future…) When asked in future generations why those rocks were there, the parents were supposed to say, “The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD” (Joshua 4:7, ESV).

So, we ought to celebrate small victories.

As of yesterday, February 13, our church offices now have an operational phone system. YAY! Praise the Lord! Woohoo! You may commence your communication.

I’m thankful for your patience and understanding over the past months. I know in some cases it must have been maddening, frustrating, and down-right anger-inducing. So, you’re welcome. God used us as part of His sanctifying process in your life.

No, really, we are grateful to Him for all He does for us. And, we choose to celebrate.

When considering what to write about in the blog, I felt compelled by God to write about prayer. Probably because it has been on my mind and heart a lot recently. I must admit, I have been slacking on my prayer life for a while now. Of course, there’s the routine prayer to bless the food, but if we would be honest with ourselves, that can really become more of a habit with little thought or heart put into it. And, of course, sometimes we tend to only pray to God when we need something or are going through difficult times. Obviously, this is not how our prayer lives should be as Christians. There should be more. However, it is easy to let it become this way with our fast-paced lives and distractions at every turn.

Thinking back to my high school days, I would consider my prayer life healthy and probably the strongest it has ever been. I took time every night to pray before going to bed. In having a healthier prayer life, I felt close to God. Regretfully, as the years went by and life became busier, I became less disciplined in my talks with God. Obviously, like any relationship, if you don’t communicate much, then your relationship will eventually feel distant. I have always felt such a comfort and peace knowing that when I speak to God, He is truly listening to me. The Creator of everything cares about what I bring to Him in prayer. It’s an amazing realization, if you really stop and think about it.

There are many Bible verses that touch on prayer and its importance. There are 650 prayers listed in the Bible. One verse to mention is Philippians 4:6 which calls us to not be anxious about anything but instead to bring everything before God. I must admit that I really struggle with this sometimes. I feel like I need to worry about my issues and try to figure out my own solutions. This verse reminds me, however, that only God is all powerful and who am I to think I know better than Him? It is a great relief to come to Him with our troubles. Another verse, 2 Chronicles 7:14, states that the Lord tells us that if we would only turn to Him in prayer, with a willing heart, He hears us. It also tells us that when we seek Him with a repenting heart, turning away from our sin, He will forgive us. We don’t only pray to God for one type of thing. We pray about our present situations, our future, a heart of thanksgiving, repentance, etc. In all things we must pray. We must come to the Lord seeking His will. Luke 22:42 reminds us that it is not our will we should be seeking over our lives but God’s will for our lives. John Piper explains prayer in this quote: “Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy.” It really is not about us at all but about God. It is about drawing near to Him, knowing He is our only answer. In our walk with the Lord, we shouldn’t only pray but also study His word. In an article online, I saw this quote, which states: “Prayer relies on our knowledge of God, which comes from reading His word.” We can’t do one and not the other and expect to grow in our relationship with Him. We must do both.

I don’t promise this post gives an abundance of knowledge or is even put together well. My hope behind this post, however, is to encourage us all to consider our prayer lives and to realize the importance of prayer. To not only cry out to God when troubled times come our way but to call on God in every aspect of our lives, good or bad. To present thanksgiving and to present repentance. To present joy and to present sadness. To magnify Him and humble ourselves. To draw closer to Him and grow in our relationship with Him. This post is to challenge others, as well as myself, to examine our prayer lives and our hearts. The God of the universe wants to hear from us and truly cares about our lives. What a great comfort and encouragement that is, no matter what we may face in this life!

This year, Resurrection Day falls on Sunday, April 1st. This year will be the first time in my lifetime that Easter and April Fools’ Day will coincide. (The last time the two observances converged was in 1945.) I hate the fact that they will be together. April Fools is my least favorite “holiday” we have, and I despise practical jokes. (I know, that’s my problem.) So, I’m bracing for the onslaught of April Fools jokes made at Christ’s expense.

Concerning fools, Proverbs 12:15 states “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.” Proverbs 14:1 announces, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” As we stand believing, that Jesus rose from the dead and that believing we have life in His name, we stand against the majority of the population of the world. We will be labeled “foolish,” and trouble-makers. But, according to God’s Word, we are not the foolish ones.

Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” This quote is the converse of Luke 9:25, “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself?” Because Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the foundation of our belief, we choose Christ over the world. So the world calls us “fools,” and we may be inclined to go along with them so we don’t make waves, or cause problems, or be called “foolish.” But we are only foolish if we try to gain the world, not if we follow the risen Lord.

So, in light of our victorious Jesus, let us prepare for our celebration of His resurrection. I challenge you to do two things. First, purpose in your heart to host an unbeliever or unbelieving family between now and Easter. Take them to lunch, invite them to your home, buy them coffee, whatever. Demonstrate the hospitality that Jesus calls on us to display through an act of kindness.

Second, pray for that individual or family. Ask God to use your act of hospitality to show His love for them. Don’t worry about a sales pitch. Don’t fret over knowing the EE outline perfectly. Don’t force a spiritual conversation unless one comes up through a normal discussion. Trust the Lord to do “exceedingly, abundantly” more than you think He can.

And then, if they will, invite them to church for Easter Sunday. There won’t be any fools there, only worshippers.

Beginning in September 2017, we began a new series on Sunday evenings for youth from the letter of James. Praying and discerning where to begin a new series for the school year, I was naturally inclined to work through a book that wrestled with the daily aspects of the Christian life. Our students, though hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ in multiple settings with many responding by faith, have struggled at times living out their new life in Christ. This is nothing new. All believers should be growing in their walk with Christ and all believers struggle at times, even falling into temptation. Therefore, with these realities in mind, we turn to James for biblical wisdom.

One area in which we need wisdom is in hardships. Everyone faces trials. No one is immune to hardships, especially Christians. Nonetheless, as believers, we don’t have to face these difficult periods with worry and grief, but find our joy in God (1:2). Joy is not the standard verb that comes to mind in trials. Hence, why should we have joy? God, by His grace, is using trials not to tear us down, but to grow and mature us in Christ (1:3-4). At numerous times, it’s troublesome for us to comprehend this. As a result, there are scores of occasions wherein we don’t know how to respond appropriately. For that reason, we should turn to our generous God in prayer, asking him for wisdom in faith (1:5-8). He will not turn us away! Thus, with joy in God and wisdom from God, we can remain resolute under hardships seeing the ultimate conclusion for believers: the crown of life (1:12). We must view adversity through the lenses of eternity to perceive the ultimate purpose and conclusion of our walk in Christ.

However, let’s admit now: this is easier said than done. We would confess that at many times, we have turned to fear instead of joy and foolishness as opposed to wisdom with no remembrance of our hope. My prayer is that through God’s word, by the means of the Holy Spirit, we would recognize our only hope in Christ and live in light of that reality. Thus, find your joy in Him today and allow Him to guide you for His glory. Blessings!

In the early days of Christ’s church, His followers faced seemingly insurmountable odds. The whole world—and the god of this age—was against them. And yet, against all odds, the church thrived, prospered, and even “turned the world upside down.” How did that happen you ask? Because they prayed.

Throughout the book of Acts, we find the early church giving themselves to constant prayer in the face of difficulties. They had a decision to make, so they prayed (Acts 1). They did not know what next to do, so they prayed (Acts 2). They had a great harvest of converts, so they devoted themselves to prayer (Acts 2). The authorities told the church to be quiet, so they prayed (Acts 4). Do you sense a pattern?

Prayer is the fuel of the church. Our God answers prayer. He unifies His people as they pray. He shakes foundations in response to those prayers. He shows up and shows off when His people seek Him through prayer.

As our children’s minister transitions to become one of our international missionaries, we are faced with decisions. We must establish a team to find our next minister. We need to continue our children’s ministry in the interim between now and when we bring on our next servant. We need to have God’s wisdom to find His man or woman to lead our ministry to families with children. All of these are exciting challenges, but they are challenges. We need God’s mind, God’s strength, God’s unity as we go through this time.

The only way for God’s people to know His mind, strength, and unity is for us to ask for it of Him through prayer. So, join with me. Commit to pray for these things as we prepare for this transition time in our children’s ministry. Please pray for our church. Please pray for me. Let’s walk together with our Lord in prayer.

As I learned to preach – and I guess, to be honest, I’m still learning – one of my mentors told me, “Good preachers know what to put into their sermons. Great preachers know what to leave out.” In agreement to this pithy little proverb, I have always labored to streamline my sermons so that they are laser-focused on the main idea of the text. In order to do so, however, I end up leaving out mountains of thrilling, Christ-exalting, and disciple-edifying comments every. single. week.

This past week’s sermon, “Jesus Above All” from Colossians 1:15-23 was no exception. In fact, this one particular text is so rich with Christological implications, that from my vantage point, limiting the coverage to just one sermon can’t help but rob the text of its fullest tribute to our Lord Jesus. What a tremendous hymn! So, just to whet your appetite regarding this passage, I’ll give you some of the spade-work I did for this text, line by line.

The image of the invisible God—For those who claim that they would believe if they could just see God, Paul points to Jesus as the exact imprint. All of mankind bear the image of God, but Jesus is the exact one, the preeminent one, the perfect one….well, you get the point. This idea is echoed in Hebrews 1:3, He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…

The firstborn of all creation—Following the logic of the image, firstborn here speaks to station or position rather than lineage. The person of the Son of God is an eternal being, coequal with the Father and the Spirit. He has always existed. So the idea of firstborn is one of primary heir.

All things were created – by Him, through Him, for Him. I fiddled with the wording in verses 16 so you can see the thrust of the sentence. According to this, Jesus is the actor, the instrument, and the purpose for the totality of creation. If you’ll pardon the vernacular, He’s the Dude. No one can touch Him, for He is…um…preeminent. Supreme. One of a Kind.

The firstborn from the dead—not only is He preeminent in creation, but He is first-place in the resurrection. He not only serves as Head (image-bearer, decision-maker, representative, champion) of creation, but He also serves as Head of the resurrection. He is the ultimate Adam, Son of God, Son of Man, the resurrected One. He represents us post-mortem, and leads us through to the other side. Because He has been there.

In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell—so there is no more “God-ness” anywhere that is not in Jesus. He is the ultimate One. Passages like this one precludes any blending of Christianity with other religions or philosophies. Either He is, or He isn’t. And, He is.

Which brings us full circle. That in all things (like, really, all things) He (Jesus, the God-man, the Son, our Warrior-King) might have the preeminence (first place, supremacy, highest seat of honor, none like Him). And, that’s just Who He Is.

I will sing unto the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously… (Exodus 15:1)

I am still overwhelmed by the events of last night. It was cold. The Panthers were playing the NFL Wild Card Playoff game on television. It was Sunday night. And yet, more people gathered in our Fellowship Hall than I had ever seen there before. Most of our folks showed up for the first of my annual encouragement/report/direction times that I call “Refocus.”

It was not just the size of the crowd, however, that overwhelmed me last night. I was overwhelmed at the goodness of God to First Baptist Concord. As I called our folks to celebrate what the Lord had done, the bigness of the moment moved me.

God has preserved His people through some difficult days. He strengthened their unity and fellowship. He has invested in them a desperation and hunger for Him and His activity. He has met every need with remains leftover. Indeed, He is good and greatly to be praised!

As I have thought deeply about the happenings of last night and the activities that culminated then, I was reminded that when God delivers we ought to celebrate in worship and praise. The quote above began the song that Moses sang after God delivered the people through the Red Sea. David and Solomon praised the LORD when He acted in salvation. The angels sang the good news in Bethlehem, and the Redeemed will sing throughout eternity.

So, let’s remember to praise the LORD as He continues to strengthen, provide, and equip us as His church. We will never “repay” the LORD for His goodness, and we shouldn’t try. BUT, He deserves all glory and praise and worship, and in His grace we can give those to Him. So, come, glorify God with me…and let’s be overwhelmed together.

Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. (Rev. 4:11)

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! (Rev. 5:12-13)

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:1)

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

As a Christ-follower and a pastor, I want 2018 to be marked by my maturing and growing in Christ. I desire to lead our church to also mature and grow in grace as we walk with Him. I can’t really imagine any other reason for existing as a church or living as an individual.

Two of Jesus’ teachings measure our maturity and obedience as His followers: the Great Command and the Great Commission. When asked the greatest commandment, Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the great and first commandment.And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” So, all of our activity ought to be governed by our love for God and for others.

Our task in following Christ, however, comes from His great commission; what some have called Jesus’ last marching orders for His followers. He told us to make disciples. That is, we are to make more of what we are. If we are followers of Christ, we are to make other followers of Christ. We are to do this among all the people groups (panta ta ethne) of the world. This multiplication of Christ-followers, then, is to be the task of our lives. I believe this to be the standard each church will be graded on by our King.

So, the question that hounds me all the time as a pastor (and Christ-follower) is “How are we doing in making disciples?” Many ways exist to evaluate our obedience to this commission (scope: all the peoples; quality: observing all of Jesus’ teachings; quantity: baptizing them). The simplest way, however, is to determine if we are even aware that this Disciple-making mandate is the measure of our following Christ? When did I (or you, or we) last make a disciple? When was I last aware of disciple-making as reason for my continued existence?

These questions should dog every follower of Christ. I fear that western Christianity has essentially walked away from this mandate. Our churches are structured in a myriad of ways, but seldom are they streamlined to make disciples. What if we made disciple-making the main thing of our church? What would that look like?

What if Jesus expects us to make disciple-making the main thing of our church?

“My New Years resolution is to not get tricked into a diet” — @parker_snider (12/26/17)

We are in that “dead week” in between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Retailers are busy transitioning their displays from sweets and Christmas gifts to sweats and workout gear. Why? Because those of us that threw caution to the wind and ate all of the fudge in one sitting are now trying to figure out how to cut fifteen pounds by spring break. Enter the days of New Year’s resolutions.

Each year, I set two or three goals – you may call them resolutions if you must – that prioritize my time and money. My most successful of these, at least by empirical evidence, was my 2016 New Year goal to lose weight. Myra and I changed our approach to eating and I lost 20 pounds from January to June that year.(I have since gained 5-10 pounds back, but it was still a 10-15 pound success.) My least successful has been my recurring goal to learn to play the guitar. (You may picture a gritting teeth emoji.) I just can’t seem to discipline myself enough to practice everyday.

My most valuable goal, however, has been my regular commitment to read through the Bible each year. For all of my adult life I have attempted to read God’s word daily, and that has been a great practice. When I was a first-year seminary student my pastor challenged me to read through the Bible, too. And so, fifteen years ago this year, I began this practice—and it has changed my life.

I read five chapters per day, usually beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation (although I have used other methods, too), in order to read through the whole of the Bible. Now, you may object, no one can really study God’s Word at that pace. And, that may in part be true. You will not be able to unpack every word, outline each doctrine, or memorize verses while reading five chapters daily. But, you will gain two valuable insights that you will not ever grasp at five verses per day: context and flow.

We were taught in hermeneutics class that “context is king” for understanding the written word, and so it is. “Levi threw up the ball” means one thing if Levi is an NBA official starting a game and something entirely different if Levi is your Labrador Retriever in distress. (Ewww!) Reading large portions of Scripture at one sitting helps the reader understand this kind of context. Flow is similar, but it allows one to see the progress of God’s revelation through the written word. Reading the Bible like one would read any other book allows the discovery of the plot lines, conflict, climax, and resolution of God’s story in creation.

So, my challenge to you this week, as you prepare to spend money on gym memberships, guitar lessons, and workout clothes, is to make time to read God’s word. Read it completely. Read it with understanding. And participate in God’s promise to those in Christ: “For those He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…” (Rom. 8:29).

She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end….

Hallellujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory….

And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.